


Bat Lagoon

by Shanejayell



Category: Batman (Comics), Black Lagoon (Anime & Manga), DC Comics
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21666340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanejayell/pseuds/Shanejayell
Summary: Characters from Black Lagoon hit Gotham. Gotham hits back...
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from either Black Lagoon or Batman, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. I am mostly ignoring canon for both series, so I can use the characters I want. If you wanna complain, go ahead.

A big thanks goes out to Espanolbot off Scans Daily, who's Casstoons strips inspired a certain scene.

Batman and Black Lagoon

The two children watched their new master thoughtfully. He had bought them from the Italian mob, arranging them to be removed from what was becoming a difficult situation. He wasn't pretty, but that didn't bother either child. They had learned very young that 'pretty' didn't matter, all it was was something to mask the evil within.

The scarred man took a coin out from his pocket, the Gotham warehouse quiet as he prepared to flip it. He did so, the silver coin flashing as it rose, then he caught it and slapped it down on his black suit's sleeve.

"Is it time, big sister?" Hansel asked, watching as Two Face checked the coin.

"He has his rituals, just like we do little brother," Gretel answered, "be patient."

"Scar face up," Two Face noted calmly. He put the coin in his pocket, his expression oddly serene as he asked, "You two ready?"

"Of course," Gretel smiled as she hefted her massive military rifle.

Hansel checked the wicked ax he carried as he asked, "What's the target, sir?"

"The crime families of Gotham," Two Face said as he adjusted his suit, split down the middle between black and gray, "and we'll start with my old friends the Falcone's."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Bruce Wayne was working late, looking out over Gotham from Wayne Tower. He projected the image of a foppish millionaire, but in reality he carefully watched over his fortune and the company he inherited, using them for the greater good of Gotham.

The ringing of his private line made Bruce raise his eyebrow slightly. There were very few people with that number, and they wouldn't be calling this late unless it was a emergency. He picked it up as he said, "Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Wayne," the voice said in perfect Russian, "it's been a long time."

"Balalaika," Bruce growled out softly. "How did you get this number?"

"We both know I have connections, Bruce," Balalaika answered smoothly. "I have information you need, I think, in repayment for the debt I owe you."

Bruce closed his eyes, remembering the training journey he had set out on in his late teens. Tibet, the mid-east, and other places, including the lawless city of Roanapur. He had found himself caught up in a brutal gang war, and had fought to survive beside a beautiful ex-Russian military officer.

"You don't owe me for that," Bruce said quietly.

"Possibly," Balalaika answered, her voice warm, "or maybe I'm doing this for the fond memories we share." Briskly she continued, "I have received word that two very dangerous killers have come to your city. They are twins, children, and are called Hansel and Gretel."

"Twins," Bruce repeated, instantly knowing who had brought them to the city. 'Oh, Harvey,' he mentally sighed, thinking of his old friend sadly.

"They were spirited out of Roanapur before certain... factions could get a hold of them," Balalaika added, "I fear at least some of those factions will chase them to your city."

"I see," Bruce answered, "thank you."

"I look forward to seeing you again," Balalaika said just as she hung up on him.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The gangs in Gotham never really recovered from the arrival of men like the Joker, Penguin, and of course Two Face himself. But even in decline the gangs were a power, handling drug dealing, prostitution and crime that the costumes just didn't touch.

Dominic Falcone was a handsome man, by most standards. He dressed well, he had a nice face, and his hair was always nicely styled. You had to get closer to see the utter inhumanity in his eyes, and few lived to learn about his people smuggling ring.

"Get the truck unloaded," Dominic ordered his men as they unloaded the bundles of drugs from the shipping truck. 'FetEx,' he thought to himself wryly, 'when you absolutely, positively have to get it there on time.'

It took only a few minutes to shatter his contentment. A worker from the front end of the old factory they were shipping out of ran towards him, yelling, "Boss, there's someone busting in at the main entrance!"

"You, you," Dominic pointed at two of his more reliable guys as he ordered, "get your guns out and let's go take a look."

The three men, lead by the other, scurried through the darkened factory. As they reached the entrance Dominic was comforted to see his men standing guard as usual, though one was leaned casually up against the wall.

"Hey, man, what the hell," one of the shooters grabbed the guy by the shoulder, then yelped as his head rolled right off.

"Aaah!" the first guy screamed like a girl even as Dominic realized the other guard was dead too, leaning sightlessly against the wall.

"Who did this?" Dominic demanded, waving his gun around nervously.

A cheerful, childlike voice said, "We did, mister!"

Dominic turned to see a child hefting a bloody ax, which he used with shocking speed on one of his gunmen. The blade parted flesh with stupid erase, splattering him with blood as his man went down screaming. The boy finished him with a chop, splattering his fine clothes.

"What the hell?" Dominic scampered backwards even as a tall man emerged from the gloom, along with a little girl hefting a gun bigger than she was. He recognized the man and his mouth went dry as he whispered, "Dent?"

"Dominic, been awhile," Two Face grinned as Gretel charged into the factory, gun blazing as she cut men down like a scythe. Hansel followed, killing any wounded still living and slaughtering his share of goons.

"We can make a deal!" Dominic squealed.

"Not in this lifetime," Two Face said as he shot the man dead.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Rokuro Okajima, more commonly known as Rock, really wondered what sort of fucked up city this was. He and the Lagoon Company were here to assist a team from Hotel Moscow, though honestly he didn't know what they were doing here. They had docked the freighter the Moscow team was using as cover and transport, Revy and declared she was going out to check out the town and less than FIVE MINUTES LATER she was in a fight.

"What the hell?" Dutch blinked, the bald black man towering over them all as Revy leaped and dodged between boats, firing away with both pistols.

The woman in black was keeping up with her, shockingly enough, and even crazier wasn't getting hit. "That would be my line," Benny blinked, the blonde haired man looking on in awe.

The woman in black leaped right over Revy, yet the gunslinger reacted fast and avoided the follow up kick. With a growl she blazed away with her pistols, even as the other woman again bounded away with incredible agility.

"Wow," Rock said weakly. He really wanted to come up with something more elegant, but to be honest he couldn't come up with anything. These two are poetry in motion, even if the poem in question is about death and violence.

"Holy fuck," Dutch noted mildly.

"Uhm," Rock looked up at Dutch as he asked, "Do you think we should maybe go out there and try to break this up?"

Benny looked amused as he pointed out, "You remember what happened when you tried it with Revy and Roberta?"

"Good point," Rock admitted.

Revy dodged another attack, thought this time some kind of bat-blade throwing weapon was sticking in her arm. "Would you fucking DIE!" she roared, blasting away.

The black clad woman she was fighting actually grinned. "Tch, language!" she chided.

'Yup,' Rock decided, 'this city is insane.'

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Gordon, you called?" Batman said gruffly, landing on the rooftop above the Gotham Police Department. The black cape figure was very striking, his shadowy presence striking fear in the heart of many a evil doer.

"Batman," James Gordon nodded beside the huge spotlight, his pipe lit and curling smoke into the dark night. "You've heard about the attack as the old Smythe Factory?"

"A dozen gangsters killed, including Dominic Falcone, one of the last relatives of the old Falcone crime family," Batman said flatly. "Deaths by heavy weapons and blades, mostly."

James put his hands in his pockets, "I expected you'd be on top of it. But we still don't know who is behind it."

"I think we both know who it is," Batman said after a moment, "Harvey."

"You think he's still focused on vengeance on the Falcone family?" James asked a bit sadly. He had been a friend to Harvey Dent too, before he had been scared and became Two Face.

"I have... a confidential source that says Harvey brought in help from outside the city, twins called Hansel and Gretel," Batman said flatly. "I'll follow up on it, see if I can find any traces of the three of them."

"I'll run it by Interpol," James agreed. He hesitated, "Whoever these twins are, they destroyed gangsters in what my forensics teams think was only minutes. Watch yourself."

"You too," Batman said, before seeming to disappear into the night.

With a sigh James headed down the stairs, the older man concerned about the odd reports coming in this evening. There were reports of armed men and women, along with semi-military figures who were passing around a lot of money. His gut told him this was all connected, and if he was right it was going to be nasty.

Three figures were standing in front of officer Montoya's desk, and Renee looked rather annoyed. "All right," she asked them, "can you explain what you're doing here?"

The tall Asian woman with bouncy breasts and dressed in a slinky dress smiled winningly. "We tourists," she said cheerfully.

"Yes," the man with sunglasses agreed, "we're seeing the city."

Renee rubbed her temples. "That's a very nice Sig Mauser you're carrying for a tourist," she looked at the man, "and some very sharp knives, miss," she looked at the Asian lady, then hesitated as she looked at the Gothic Lolita garbed woman, "and what's up with the CHAINSAW you were carrying?"

Sawyer hesitated, looking at Rotton and Shenhua, then looked back at Renee. Using her vocoder she replied, "I like... carving."

"Ugh," Renee sighed.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Bat Lagoon

Two

Balalaika sighed to herself softly as the white blond sat at her office in Hotel Moscow. Just a few weeks ago the twins Hansel and Gretel had rampaged across the city, killing her men and nearly triggering a war between the city's gangs. She had been happy when the children killed the foolish Italians who hired them, but she was less happy to see them escape the city.

Her men had died at these devil children's hands. Cut down, shot... in one case, tortured to death, lingeringly. Balalaika was determined to see them pay for what they had done, pay with their lives at the very least. Her soldiers deserved at least that much, as did her own honor.

There was a knock on the door, then her Sargent Boris entered. "We have reports from Gotham," he told her, "the children have been sighted."

"They've killed again?" Balalaika asked, drawing on her thick cigar.

"Indeed," Boris nodded, "they attacked the Falcone mob in two strikes." He sounded just a touch admiring as he said, "They appear to have largely decapitated the mob. I suspect they'll follow up on the foot soldiers shortly."

"Hmm," Balalaika nodded, "are we having any luck finding Two Face or the children?"

"Not as much as I'd like," Boris admitted, "we couldn't send a very large team into Gotham, not with the situation in Roanapur the way it is. They are doing their best."

"We have contacts there, use them as well," Balalaika ordered. "The longer those children roam free, the higher the body count. And murder is bad for business."

"Understood," Boris nodded.

As he left, Balalaika sat back with a sigh. The Russian mob in Gotham was a shadow of what it was in other cites, mostly thanks to the Batman. Of course, things were not helped by their using monsters like the KG Beast and the Demon. Murder and war were fine, in their place, but in business... not so much.

Picking up her phone she made a call, listening as the international transmission went through. "Dutch?" she smiled, "I hope you reached Gotham safely?"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Dutch and the Lagoon Company were in a hotel not far from the docks. He was NOT leaving his boat in the hands of these crazy people unless he could reach it pretty damn fast. He and Benny were sharing one room, while Revy and Rock were right next door.

"Yeah," Dutch said into the phone, "other than being jumped by a Bat-chick, we're fine."

"You seem to have escaped unharmed," Balalaika noted, sounding amused.

"It was weird," Dutch admitted, "she jumped Revy, they fought for a bit... then she just bowed and swung away. No idea what's up with that chick." He cleared his throat, "Okay, we're here. What's the plan?"

"I want you ready either to extract my teams or the twins, whichever," Balalaika said frankly. "However do NOT directly engage either the Gotham police or this Bat-clan running around the city."

There was a beat of silence as Dutch processed that. "You do realize that's pretty much impossible, right?" he asked.

Balalaika chuckled softly, "Well, do your best." She cleared her throat, "There are several bounty hunters in ton, and if Revy wishes she can also try for the bounty on the twins. I would suggest you not get involved yourself, Dutch."

"You think I'm crazy?" Dutch chuckled. "Benny's beren trying some hacking, just to figure out what's going on in town, but he keeps getting shut down by surprisingly good security. You know anything about that?"

"Ah," Balalaika sighed, "my people are having the same problem. The only hint we can find is a user handle called Oracle..."

"Well, we'll do what we can," Dutch sighed.

"I trust you to do your best," Balalaika agreed before hanging up.

Dutch sat back as he tried to figure out what the hell to do. At the very least he was stuck riding herd over Revy, who would almost certainly get into trouble. An equal problem might be Rock, considering how much shit his good intentions could get him into.

"Damn this is crazy," Benny blurted out from where he was pecking away at the computer they had lugged up from the boat into the hotel room.

"What's wrong?" Dutch asked curiously.

"The city's computers are locked up tight," Benny said as he pushed away from the terminal tiredly. "Normally you can get in through a less secured area, like sewage or maintenance, but this system... it's insane. There are firewalls, traps, false systems even..."

"Not typical, I take it?" Dutch replied, not sure what the hell Benny was talking about.

"Not on your typical city budget," Benny shook his head tiredly.

There was a knock on the door, then Roc stuck his head in. "Revy wants to go out and get some air," he said tiredly.

Dutch's first instinct was to say no, but... if he refused, he was pretty certain Revy would go out anyway. And probably get all of them in trouble. Better to go out as a group and, possibly, contain the damage a bit.

"We'll all go," Dutch decided, "there was a bar we passed on the way here, we'll get a drink and scope the place out."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Gack!" Gil Maroni managed to grab at his gun before the axe cut into his back, nearly severing his spine and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Now Gil, is that any way to greet a old friend?" Two Face asked pleasantly as Hansel left the axe in the man's back and pulled another out of his coat. "Good job," he complimented the boy.

"Thank you," Hansel beamed.

"What the fuck..." Gil moaned, "What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Around them the young man's gang was being slaughtered. Gretel was mowing men down with her cannon as Hansel attacked with blades. The men on the docks were caught off guard, and worse filled with terror as the deadly twins and their frightening master attacked.

"It's not really you, Gil," Two face admitted conversationally as he knelt down by where the man sprawled on the ground, "but you're the last Maroni, you know? And there's no one else left to pay for what you're uncle Sal did."

"Oh fuck..." Gil whimpered, realizing what this was about.

His uncle Sal had been the son of one of the most powerful crime bosses, until he was caught for his crimes. Realizing he was doomed and would face the death penalty, Sal had his men smuggle in a container of acid, which he tried to murder the District Attorney Harvey Dent with. He failed, but the acid bath horribly scarred Dent and helped turn him into Two Face.

"Now, now, no bad language in front of the kids," Two Face chided him. He took out his coin, "Here's the choice: I put you down myself, or I let the twins have you. And trust me, my putting you down would be a mercy."

Gil looked at the eerily eager Hansel and could agree with Two Face. He had seen a few sadists in his gang days, but he had never seen that kind of blood thirsty eagerness as he saw on that child's face. The coin flipped upward, spinning and shining in the light, then Two Face caught it and slapped it onto his arm.

"Well, well," Two Face smiled coldly, He looked at Hansel, "Have fun."

"No." Gil started weakly as Hansel and Gretel eagerly moved in on him, "Please, NO!"

The screams and wet sounds carried on for awhile as Two Face considered what he was doing. Back in the day he had been a crusading DA, and some part of him still was. After everything that had happened to him, he knew the Gotham mobs had been the ones to destroy his regular life. Now as a scarred monster he was determined to let them reap what they had sowed, and destroy all the mobs and their leaders.

The sounds Gil was making finally ended, and Gretel trotted over, her gothic lolita dress splattered with blood and other fluids. "What did you want us to do with him, Mr. Dent?" Gretel asked respectfully, a bit of blood on her cute face.

Two Face tried not to be unnerved by the kids, but it was hard. They were blood thirsty and crazed in a way that made even the freaks in Gotham seem normal. He made a mental note to take them on a roadtrip to the bastards who had abused them and kill them bloodily.

"Leave the body where it is," Two Face said, "we want the other gangs to know this is coming for them too."

"Yes sir!" Hansel beamed, also blood splattered, the latest axe he was carrying having been broken cleaving through someone's skull. "Where to next?" he asked.

"We need to decide which of the old mob families to hit next," Two Face paused then got a good look at his two minions, "but first, we need to get you some fresh clothes."

"We are a bit of a mess," Gretel admitted, taking in her brains soaked sleeve.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Oh god," the CSI took one look at what was left of the man, staggered off and was violently ill.

Renee Montoya was keeping her meal down, but just barely. The officer was there with the major crimes unit, watching as the CSI unit bagged and tagged the remains of the various gangsters. Even the seasoned members of the team were having a hard time keeping their lunches down as they collected the small pieces.

"Well, that's a mess," Harvey Bullock noted as he took in what had been done to Gil. "You think Dent is sending a message?"

"Oh yeah," Renee agreed, "but what?"

The voice came out of the shadows. "It's a warning that he's coming for them," Batman said flatly, emerging from the darkness.

"Damn it Bats, don't DO that!" Harvey growled as Renee recovered from being startled.

"Warning to the mobs?" Renee asked once she regained her composure.

Batman's cape swirled around him as he said grimly, "The Mobs and everyone else who's crossed Harvey over the years." He looked at the two cops as he asked, "Gordon offered police protection to the mobsters?"

"Yeah, though they ain't taking us up on the offer," Harvey said dryly, "a few of them think it's a sting, or something."

Batman grunted softly, not disagreeing but not happy either. "I'll get my people mobilized," he said, "do what you can."

Before either officer could reply he was simply gone, disappearing into the darkness. "Damn," Renee muttered.

"You get used to it eventually," Harvey comforted her.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Bat Lagoon

Three

Revy felt oddly nervous as she walked the streets of Gotham, her twin pistols snug in their shoulder holsters. She was used to being in dangerous situations... hell, living in Roanapur was a adventure every day, but Gotham didn't feel the same. There was a different brand of crazy going on in this town.

"I REALLY don't like this," Benny muttered, echoing her thoughts.

"We're just going to the bar," Dutch said to them firmly, "and keep in mind it's not the Yellow Flag, Revy. None of your usual trouble, got it?"

"Hey, most of that shit isn't my fault," Revy protested.

Rock looked around him, once again wondering how a nice Japanese salaryman had found himself in this mess. Well, having his former employers try to murder him did have a lot to do with that... either way, here he was. It was stranger still being in America... he had read about it a lot, of course, but had never been here before.

"Hey Benny," Rock asked quietly, "is it true that Americans are all armed?"

Benny gave him a odd look, "No, not really. I think on average most Americans don't carry guns at all."

"Huh," Rock answered, faintly disappointed.

Revy snorted, "Rock, you read too much manga. Yeah, there's guns around, but your average jerk isn't always armed."

The bar they picked was nearby the docks, and was generally pretty seedy. There was beer spilled on the floor, dirty windows and the bartender clearly looked like he'd rather be somewhere else. The crowd was mostly dock workers or crooks, all of whom gazed suspiciously as the Lagoon Company went inside.

"Reminds me of home," Dutch drawled as they walked up to the bar.

The man reluctantly abandoned perusing a Playboy as he looked at them with disinterest. "What can I get you?" he asked.

"Rum," Revy decided, "and make it Crown Royal, not any of that generic crap."

"The same," Rock decided to be safe.

"Beer," Dutch decided to be a bit more advenbturous, letting the bartender fill him a mug of what they had on tap and passing him a fifty.

Benny looked at him with a amused look then ordered a name brand bottled beer. The four then retreated to a table, each carrying their drink. "You just really over payed him," Benny pointed out.

"He might be a bit more chatty, later," Dutch noted as he drank a bit of beer then stopped.

"Bad?" Revy asked as she had a bit of her rum.

"Horse piss," Dutch agreed as he had a bit more. "It does improve as the mouth goes numb, though," he admitted ruefully.

Rock sipped his own rum, noting it was not bad. "The crowd seems pretty tense," he noted quietly to the others.

"Can you blame them?" Benny asked. He shrugged, "They know our two maniacs are running around town. Not to mention that Two Face guy."

"I still don't know what the fuck is up with this Dent guy," Revy admitted. "I mean, he got splashed with acid? So fucking what!"

"Balalaika came back from worse, arguably," Rock noted a bit dubiously.

Several people in the bar inched away at that comment. A young man got up, and staggered towards their table, "What are you talkin' about that psycho for?"

"I'm a bounty hunter," Revy lied, "and there's a hell of a price on his head."

"You're nuts," the man shook his head, "I know people who... worked for Dent, back in the day. Flip of a coin and he'd decide if you liked or died."

"Do you know where he might be hiding?" Dutch had to ask.

"No, no," the man shook his head, "all I know is, it'll involve twos. Somehow."

"He's famous for his obsession for twos," Benny conceded thoughtfully as the man staggered back to his table. None of them noticed another guy scurry out, they were too busy talking.

"Think you can crank up your computer, find some possible hideouts?" Revy asked him eagerly.

"Maybe," Benny cautioned, "I'm limited to publically accessible sites. Still, I can at least come up with some suggestions."

Rock drank his rum thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought about it, but I guess that obsession with twos is why he recruited the twins in the first place," he noted.

Dutch watched the other customers, worruiedly noting the dock hands and crooks were steadily clearing out. Not a good sign. He had some more horrid beer, then put it down as he said, "Finish your drinks, folks. We gotta move."

Revy had also noticed the gradual clear out, and finished her glass of rum. "Drink up, boys," she ordered, even as the front door to the bar crashed open.

The man looked almost mousy, with round glasses and a bald head. But in his arms he cradled a ventriloquist dummy, and it had what looked like a tommy gun. "What's this I hear about you talkin' disrespectful about my man Dent?" the dummy demanded then opened fire.

"What the fuck?!" Revy yelled as she shoved Rock under cover and several other people in the bar opened up, some shooting at them, some at the Ventriloquist.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Nightwing swung between buildings, patrolling the city. He was here covering for Bruce while he investigated a lead on Hansel and Gretel, the twins Two Face brought in. Dick Grayson knew the city like the back of his hand, much like he did Bludhaven, and he swung expertly across the skyline.

There were bounty hunters in town, and a worrying number of armed, paramilitary types. He, Batgirl and Robin were all trying to keep tabs on them, while also monitoring Gotham's usual crime. It was a tough job for four people, even with all the police Gotham had.

Nightwing was swinging by the docks when he heard the gunfire, changing course to head towards the bar. He crashed through the front door in a blur of motion, swiftly asessing the situation. The Ventriloquist was spraying the room with bullets, a group was hiding behind tables, and several members of rival gangs were shooting at each other. And a gunwoman... danced?

The woman was poetry in motion as she leaped and dodged, her short shorts and t-shirt hugging her trim, athletic body. Tattoos marked one shoulder and her eyes had a dangerous, savage instensity as she dodged bullets and returned fire.

A man went down in a burst of red and Nightwing shook off his surprise. From his belt he drew several pellets and threw them to the ground, filling the room with blinding black smoke.

"What the..." Ventriloquist sputtered through the Scarface dummy.

Nightwing tacked him, slamming the older man backwards. He didn't have time to play around, knowing that the Ventriloquist could be very dangerous with his dummy, and swiftly laid him out with the next blow.

There was cursing coming from within the cloud of smoke, but thankfully no more gunfire. "Where's the crazy guy with the puppet?" a annoyed female demanded.

Moving nearly silently Nightwing tacked the other group of gunmen, swiftly using nerve strikes and other moves to drop them. That done, he advanced towards the other group even as the smoke began to clear.

"Hold it right there, pretty boy," the woman ordered, thankfully not pointing a gun at him. "We owe you one or the rescue?" she asked mildly as her companions formed up behind her.

Nightwing was a bit startled she had heard him coming, but hid it well. "Care to tell me what happened here?" he asked.

"We don't normally explain ourselves to guys running around in skin tight outfits and masks," the big black man noted wryly. "I'm Dutch, this is Revy, Benny and Rock."

"Nightwing," he shook the big man's hand. Quickly he assessed them, deciding Dutch and Revy were the physical threats. There was a... certain calculating look in Rock's eyes too, that he decided bore watching out for. "And I suppose it's just that kind of town," he joked.

Benny chuckled. He addressed Dutch, "If it helps any, my research says he's on the side of the angels, out here."

"We were mindoing our own business when the crazy bastard with the dummy burst in, shooting the place up," Revy said flatly.

Nightwing wasn't sure he bought that, but he would check out their story later. "You licensed to carry those guns?" he asked Revy.

She reached between her breasts, then drew ut a crumpled and sweaty piece of paper. "Here ya go," Revy smirked.

Nightwing gingerly took it, confirming she did indeed have a temporary license. "Thank you," he sighed, handing it back.

"No problem," Revy drawled as she tucked it back between her breasts.

Deciding it was time to go Nightwing turned to walk away, "I trust you'll stay for the police."

The four watched him swing away. "He joking?" Benny had to ask.

"I don't care, we're leaving," Dutch decided as they took off out the back.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Bat Lagoon

Four

Arkham Asylum was locked up tight, by certain standards of tight. The place had expensive security, in part paid for by Bruce Wayne, but that didn't seem to stop the maniacs from breaking in or out whenever they wanted. Worse, things were VERY very tense right then, with the craziness going on in the city.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA," the Joker laughed madly, reading a paper that had been left in the common room for the inmates. "I LOVE these kids!" he declared, waving the paper.

"What did the Twins do this time?" Poison Ivy wondered as she casually filed her nail sharper. She intended to stab a guard with it in the next few days, infect him with plant toxin and escape. You'd think the guards would only approach her wearing hazmat suits, but they never learned...

"Cracked a man's spine then put his head back on backwards," Joker pointed to the photo cheerfully, "I love how they retied his tie as a noose too."

"You are messed up," Croc sighed, the muscular, almost scaled man sitting in a chair. "You think Dent will hit here, eventually?"

Scarecrow laughed harshly, "Afraid of him, Croc?"

"No, Crane, I am NOT," Croc snarled.

Scarecrow flinched back a little. "NO, I don't think so," he said a bit more mildly, "he's focused on the Gotham gangs."

"And entertaining us all," Joker noted gleefully.

Poison Ivy ignored that. "So who do we know is outside that might be getting involved?" she wondered aloud.

"Ventriloquist is out," Croc noted.

"WAS out," Scarecrow corrected, "he was hauled in this morning. Shot up a bar in support of Dent's side. I think Catwoman's out there too."

"She'd stay out of it, I think," Poison Ivy noted as she held up her hand, admiring her nails, "no profit in it."

"There IS a hell of a reward for the Vampire Twins," Joker offered cheerfully. He stretched, "From the Russian mob, of all people."

"Huh. Not that lame KG Beast?" Croc asked.

"No, the REAL Russian mob. Hotel Moscow. KG Beast would be lucky if they even threw him a bone," Joker laughed.

The orderlies arrived with their meds, which the inmates took with varying degrees of enthusiasm. "I saw you palm them, Dr Crane," the orderly stared down Scarecrow calmly, "swallow them. Or I'll ask that your library privilages get cut."

"Yes, yes," Scarecrow sighed and took his too.

"I can't WAIT to see what happens tonight," Poison Ivy noted as she relaxed. She intentionally let her gaze linger on a male guard... he might be the patsy she needed.

"Hmm?" Croc looked at her in confusion.

Annoyed, Ivy looked back at him. "It's the twenty second. There's no WAY Two-face won't do something," Poison Ivy shrugged.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Meanwhile the group of bounty hunters who had arrived in Gotham looking for the twins were also not having a fun time. They didn't know the city, nor did they have many local contacts. So the three were out walking, to try to get a feel for what was going down.

Shenhua scowled as the tall, attractive Asian woman drew every eye to her bouncing breasts held in a slinky dress. "We no have luck at all," she complained.

Rotton looked amused as he strode along, his long coat flapping dramatically in the breeze. "At least Sawyer is happy," he noted.

Sawyer was indeed happy as she walked along in her new, black, lace trimmed dress. She had found a gothic lolita themed shop here in Gotham, MUCH better equipped than the ones she could usually shop online. After a flurry of trying on dresses and playing with accessories she had bought several hundred dollars of stuff and paid to have it shipped home.

Shenhua sighed, "We need info. Go shake down bar?"

"A entire bar?" Sawyer asked, amused.

"Know what I mean," Shenhua waved that off.

They were heading down a alley when a man staggered in front of them, holding a gun. "Money!" he croaked.

"And then Gotham gives up a gift," Shenhua laughed.

The robber looked DEEPLY confused by that reaction. "Gimmie money," he repeated, waving the gun pointedly.

"Who wants dibs?" Rotten asked the other politely.

"You and Sawyer have had the most fun so far," Shenhua pointed out to them reasonably. Heck, Rotten had even ended up in a brothel by accident!

"Go ahead then," Sawyer smiled.

"Uh..," the man took a step backwards, but it was too late.

With catlike speed Shenhua pulled her twin knives from concealed holsters in her dress, then charged him. Her blade struck sparks as she slapped the gun from the robber's hand, then advanced on him smoothly.

"Now, what was that about robbing us?" Shenhua asked coolly.

"Just leave me alone, I..." the man stammered, turning to flee.

Now, all Shenhua had planned was to play a bit. Slap him around a little, maybe a few cuts, then let him go. But before she could do anything else, a figure in red and green dropped from the sky, flicking out a extendable bo-staff and stopping her throw.

'Robin,' Shenhua recognized the young man in the form fitting armor from their admittedly spotty research.

"Back away slowly, please," Robin ordered as he took up a combat stance.

Shenhua completely ignored that as she closed with him, swinging a knife to see how he would react. He was damn fast, and sparks flashed as her knife slid along the staff. 'Titanium reinforced?' she wondered as she kicked, making him hop backwards a bit.

"Hold on," Robin started.

Shenhua tried to slip by his guard, then as he parried kicked a leg out from under him. Robin went down, and Shenhua had a chance for a damaging shot and went for it. The damn kid got the armored back of a gauntlet in front of the blade, but she still managed to graze his arm.

Robin rolled away, then kicked upwards, making Shenhua hop away. He kept the bo staff in one hand and slipped a sharpened battarang into the other He parried with his staff and struck out with the edged weapon, nearly tagging her.

Shenhua was having the time of her life as they danced across the alley. The boy was good, VERY good, and his fighting style was very familiar. She slashed with a knife, slicing into the bat-toy and sending pieces flying.

"So sorry I broke your toy," Shenhua purred.

Robin threw the one at her, making her duck, then unfolded another from his belt. "Don't worry," he growled, "I have more."

"Good," Shenhua attacked, twin knives flashing as she tried to break through his guard. It was a block using both the staff and a bat-thingy that made Shenhua realize why his fighting style was familiar... that was a Shiva move. Modified, but...

The sound of a gun going off made both of then jump backwards, then they glared at Rotten. "What...?" Robin started.

"Ahem," Rotten cleared his throat, "Mr... Robin, is it?"

"Just Robin is fine," the young man continued tersely.

"Robin, then," Rotten nodded, "as I understand it you and the other Bat-people represent the law here?"

"Somewhat. So?" Robin asked.

"My colleagues and I were simply minding our own business when that man attempted to rob us," Rotten gestured to the now out cold man.

"And you attacked him with knives," Robin noted dryly as he casually leaned on his staff.

"Self defense," Shenhua shrugged, making her breasts jiggle entertainingly.

Robin hesitated, but he clearly couldn't argue with their scenario. "Try not to kill anyone, even in self defense," he ordered, picking up the stunned robber.

"Will do," Rotten lied cheerfully as the boy swung off into the twilight.

"Too bad you stopped us," Shenhua pouted, "it was getting interesting."

"We can't afford you killing one of these heroes," Rotten noted.

"He might beat me," Shenhua noted. "Was trained by Shiva."

"Shiva," Sawyer paused, then the young woman continued warily, "The mysterious lady martial artist who's never been beaten? THAT Shiva?"

Shenhua didn't mention she trained her, too. Instead she just nodded, "Yes. Very respected, well known." She looked off where Robin had gone as she mused, "He have potential. Someday, if he train, could be great."

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Bat Lagoon

Five

In her base in the city clock tower by the police department, Oracle worked away. Barbara Gordon had once been the heroine Batgirl, until a bullet from the Joker had severed her spine. Now she used her computer skills to provide information to other heroes, as well as fighting crime with her agents the Birds of Prey.

Babs typed away, setting up another block as she puffed out a annoyed breath. The search for the murderous twins was taking up a lot of her time, but the rest was spent trying to stop a increasing number of hacking attempts.

There was a East Asian person or group trying to crack the police database. Oracle recognized the techniques as the work of Greenback Jane, a noted counterfitter and hacker. She was good, and worse she had a team backing her up. But Babs had the best computing power that the Wayne fortune could buy backing her up, so she was reasonably sure she could hold her off.

Peking Duck out of China was also launching net attacks. Babs suspected Hotel Moscow of hiring the Chinese hackers, since they were also targeting police servers. Unlike Jane they were using brute force attacks with multiple 'slave' computers bombarding the GCPD, but they were having no luck breaking in.

The most annoying problem was a hacker who was attacking locally. Babs didn't know who it was, and they were accessing the city internet from different locations around town. Unlike the other teams whomever it was, was subtle, careful, and skilled. Worse, the hacker was clearly aware of her ability to trace, and disconnected and moved on after every short attempt.

"Ah, well," Babs sighed as she drank some coffee, "I'll get you eventually."

The situation with Two Face was also becoming quite vexing. She had tracked him to several hideouts, but he was moving on too quickly to nail him. Worse, the 'Vampire Twins' were almost as random as Joker, again making it hard to track them.

'And it's the 22nd,' Babs thought grimly. 'What evil plot will Two Face launch today? With his mania for twos he HAS to act...'

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Okay kids, we're going out to dinner," Two Face said cheerfully.

"Huh?" Gretel blinked.

"What?" Hansel also blinked.

"Coin came up un-scarred, so tonight we'll take a break," Two Face said briskly. "Besides this will drive Batsy nuts, he'll run himself ragged trying to figure out what I'd do."

"I suppose," the girl noted doubtfully. Gretel shrugged, "You're the boss, sir."

"Where are we going?" Hansel asked.

"I was thinking Italian," Two Face admitted. "I think you'd like spagetti."

"Okay," Gretel agreed brightly. "Should we change?"

"And should we be armed?" Hansel added.

Two Face grinned, "Of course. The resturant I'm thinking of IS known to be frequented by certain gangsters..."

The two kids echoed the grin. "Oh yes," Gretel purred.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Lanna Moxon sighed as she met with Commissioner Gordon, the attractive brown haired woman sitting in the chair in his office across from his desk. Her lawyer was beside her, the stylishly dressed man carrying a briefcase.

"Of course my client does not concede she has commited any crimes, but she does believe her family connections might lead to her being a target," the lawyer said calmly.

"My sister, Mallory, was tied to our father's business," Lanna said dryly, "which got her and him killed. I'd like to avoid that."

Gordon grunted softly. In fact her was quite certain the young lady had in fact taken over her father's business, but proving it was difficult. Unlike her father she clearly understood using catspaws and agents, rather than getting her hands dirty.

"The best we can offer is some police protection," Gordon admitted, "we'd assign a officer to bodyguard you, basically, along with hopefully being able to respond if you are attacked."

"Hopefully?" the lawyer looked less than pleased.

Gordon gave him a look, "We are stretched thin as hell trying to head off a full scale gang war. Not to mention dealing with mercenaries and rampaging private security forces."

Lanna put a hand on her lawyer's arm. "We are asking them for help, remember?" she reminded him coolly.

"My apologies," the lawyer bowed his head slightly.

"So, can I meet the officer who will be assigned to me?" Lanna asked politely.

"I'll call her," Gordon nodded, picking up the phone and dialing. In a few moments a attractive young woman with shortish brown hair arrived, her expression calm if a bit remote.

'Oooh,' Lanna thought, hiding a smile.

"Renee Montoya, this is Lanna Moxton. You are now assigned for her personal protection duty," Gordon said with a smile.

"Ma'am," Renee nodded politely.

"Officer Montoya," Lanna smiled, "can I call you Renee?"

Renee smiled back politely as she answered, "You can call me officer, thank you."

'Oooh, feisty,' Lanna smiled.

Gordon sighed as he said, "If you'll excuse me, ladies, I have paperwork calling my name."

"Ms Moxton, shall we go?" Renee nodded, holding the door open.

"Call me Lanna," she purred as she followed Renee out.

"No," Renee answered calmly as the lawyer followed them out.

Gordon hid his own smile and got back to work. He really did have paperwork to get through.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Salvatore's was one of the exclusive places to eat in Gotham. You needed to know where the unmarked resturant even was, and they catered to a certain type of businessman. People who came with armed bodyguards, paid with cash and wanted privacy.

Tonight, that privacy was gone and the place was a abbator. Gunsmoke filled the air, bodies were stacked up like cordwood, and three customers were eating a meal.

"Al, the pasta is just as good as I remembered," Two Face addressed the owner warmly.

Al Salvatore, the manager, was stading beside the table. His staff had escaped mostly unharmed, and were cowering at a table nearby where his 'guests' could keep an eye on them. "Thank you," Al managed, the older man trying for dignity.

"It's yummy!" Gretel agreed.

Al did his best not to twitch. The two children had scared him more than Two Face. The boy had attacked the bodyguards, slashing with knives, even as the girl hefted a massive rifle and killed any he couldn't reach. As they did Two Face advanced, pistol in each hand as he shot the leaders with cool, deadly precision.

"Could I get a drink?" Hansel asked, slurping up noodles.

"Just soda," Two Face noted, "you're too young for wine."

"Yes sir," Al hurried off then returned with a coke for the boy.

"Calm down, Al," Two Face added conversationally as he returned, "I have no intention of harming you or your staff."

"They ARE witnesses," Gretel noted.

Two Face shrugged as Al paled. "Do we care?" he asked. "It's not like I'm trying to avoid the law, really," he noted.

Hansel drank some soda then ate, getting more red on his face to match the blood splattered clothes. "You're the boss, sir," the boy said respectfully.

"Besides, I don't care as long as we keep having fun," Gretel added.

Looking towards Al Two Face noted, "I would suggest you look into changing clients. Things are going to keep getting worse for them., and I wouldn't want you caught in the crossfire."

"Thank you," Al said a bit dryly.

They heard a alarm in the distance, and Two Face sighed. "Who called the cops?" he asked wearily. "We just came for a nice meal and someone spoiled it. Who?"

The staff gathered closer together, but the young men and women didn't say anything.

Two face sighed. "Scar face they die, clean we just leave," he said as he calmly flipped. The coin spun, gleaming then he caught it and slepped it don on his arm. "Scarred," he smiled coldly.

"Wait!" Al yelped, "I called the cops! It was me."

"I don't really care," Two Face shrugged. He looked at the kids, "Waste 'em."

"No," Al started when Two Face took one of his pistols and shot him in the face.

"Crying shame," Two Face noted as the screams and begging for mercy pretty rapidly trailed off, "place made the best damn pizza in town, too."

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

Bat Lagoon

Chapter Six

Batman looked around Salavatore's Restaurant, careful not to step in any of the blood. Two groups from the Gotham crime families had been here, apparently trying to have a simple meal, then Two Face and the Twins arrived. He swept the room with his eyes, considering how it had probably gone down.

The bodyguards of each group likely reacted as soon as they saw Dent, but the girl with the massive rifle had probably shot one before he could even draw. In the shock of the moment the boy raced in towards the other bodyguard, cutting him down with his knives. As they attacked Dent followed, twin guns blazing.

The Belleci Family soldiers died first, apparently Dent didn't care about them all that much. The members of the Mangione mob managed to get some cover behind a divider wall, exchanging fire. But Gretel's large cannon literally blew segments out of the wall, and after that they had been finished off fairly quickly.

They dragged out John Mangione for some 'special treatment,' handing him over to the axe kid, Hansel. Why Dent wanted him tortured Batman didn't know, but he would probably have to find out.

"Who called it in?" Batman asked flatly.

Harvey Bullock sighed. "Al Salavatore himself. He called from the kitchen while making something for Dent and the kids." He spat, "Units came in with sirens on, Dent heard them coming and shot Al and his staff for it."

Bsatman was nearly as annoyed as Harv at that screw up, but he didn't let it show. Even if the cops had come in quiet like they should have he didn't think they could have brought in Dent, but at least the staff might have lived...

"Forensics will go over the scene, but I don't expect 'em to find anything..." Harvey started, then turned.

Batman had simply disappeared, which should have been hard considering there were no exits nearby and he SHOULD have had to go past Harv to get out.

"How DOES he do that?" Harvey grumbled, then went back to work.

Outside Batman fired a grapling line up onto a building then swung up to a nearby ledge. He landed gracefully then stood, looking out over the city. He and his allies were a step behind Two Face, and people kept dying. Other than his hitting the mobs there was no pattern to his activities...

A siren wailed off in the distance, and gracefully Batman leapt into action again.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"THIS CITY IS FUCKING NUTS!" Revy yelled as they exchanged fire with a crazed masked man with a machine gun for an arm.

"Language," the boy in red and green and a black cape said as he was helping Shen-hua and Sawyer fight off several thugs.

"Don't tell me you're with that crazy chick in black," Revy muttered.

"Who IS that nutjob?" Dutch demanded as they ducked under another burst of guns.

Benny was typing away at the laptop he had bought just yesterday. MUCH better than the gear he could buy in Thailand. "KG Beast," he reported, "Russian mob."

"Not...?" Rock started, staying safe behind a very thick walled truck. Say what you will about the USA, they built tough trucks.

"Not Hotel Moscow," Benny clarified. "I get the impression the faction he's working for is more small time."

Rock's mind raced, as it usually did in a crisis. "Trying to get the Twins in hope of currying favour?" he guessed.

Dutch pulled out his phone. "Just a sec," he said, dialing. "Well, hello," he said with a grim smile then spoke softly.

Sawyer swept her roaring chainsaw across the baseball bats and other weapons, sending men racing back. Beside her Shen-hua smirked, "Pussies."

"You people are crazy," Robin noted, wondering why he kept running into this group.

"Says the guy in a bird outfit," Rotten noted.

"Okay, yeah," Robin conceded.

The Beast was a huge man, larger than Dutch by a bit, and he rippled with muscle as he ordered his men about. They were there to try to eliminate rivals, as they tried to find the murderous Twins. The Beast had fallen in status in the Russian mob, but if he could do this...

"Sir!" a young trooper hurried over with the military style phone they used to reach their superiors. It was a shielded model, encrypted, and not to be casually used.

"Is it the general?" the Beast asked flatly. He despised the old fool who ran their Gotham operation, but he had to put up with him.

"Worse," the young man gulped, "it's HOTEL MOSCOW."

The Beast looked at him in shock. There should have been NO WAY they could get into their systems. It was impossible. "Give it to me," the Beast ordered. He raised the phone to his head and said, "Speak."

"Knyazev," the woman drawled, "it's been a long time."

The Beast's eyes widened under his mask. "Ms Balalaika, it's good to hear from you..."

Rock watched with a certain degree of amazement as the fighting just... stopped. Troops pulled back and guns went down as they orderly retreated from the fight. "What happened?" Rock had to ask.

"I called up Hotel Moscow." Dutch shrugged. "I figured this fight was kind of pointless so I hoped they could reason with 'em," he shrugged.

"The big guy looks like he wants to piss himself," Revy noted dryly.

"If YOU got a cranky call from Balalaika, how would you react?" Rock had to ask.

"Point..." Revy conceded.

"Aww, fight over," Shenhua pouted as the troops fled.

"Whew," Robin leaned on his bo-staff. He SHOULD be chasing the punks down, but he was too tired and there were too many to just try to catch.

"Thanks for the help," Rotten noted, the taller man smiling wryly, his coat flapping around him.

Robin stretched tiredly. "I'm going to have to tell Batman about this, which means we'll be keeping a closer eye on all of you. Just a heads up," he informed him.

Rotten watched as the kid turned towards where KG Beast stood. "Don't think about jumping him on your own," he cautioned. "Not the time or place, kid."

Robin hesitated, clearly considering it. Finally he nodded, "Later." With that he moved off, pulled out the funny cable-guns the Bat-clan seemed to all use, and took off into the sky.

Sawyer moved her vocoder to her throat as the chainsaw weilding maniac noted, "Nice butt."

Both Rotten and Shenhua looked at her. "What." Shunhua blinked.

Sawyer shrugged, "He's cute."

Rotten sighed as he just gave up. "I need a beer," he decided.

Back at the other barricade, Revy watched warily as KG Beast walked over to where they waited. "I can try to drop him," she offered flatly.

"Let's see what he has to say first," Rock cautioned.

DAMN was he big tho. He was taller even than Dutch, and he was pretty much the tallest person Rock knew. He stood before them stiffly a moment, then bowed slightly.

"Eh?" Benny squeaked.

The big Russian continued, "I was not aware you were directly working with Hotel Moscow." KG Beast stood straight as he continued, "We will not interfere with your operations again."

"Uhm, thank you," Dutch managed.

The Beast nodded, turned, and walked away.

EVERYONE on that side puffed out a sigh of relief. "That guy is fricking scary. Not as bad as the Maid but..." Revy shook her head.

Dutch shook his head ruefully. "All right, let's get out of here before the cops finally mobilize..." he said grimly.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The Iceberg Lounge was jumping, even as the city tensely waited for more mayhem. It might even have been that tension that had people wanting to go out and have fun, despite the possible dangers. Still, it wasn't like Penguin wasn't taking precautions.

"There are a LOT more guards around than usual," Lanna Moxon noted as she sipped a drink. The attractive brown haired woman was wearing a slinky, tight dress that showed off her curves.

Renee Montoya was doing her best not to notice those curves, but it was tough. "Both regular guards and he's armed the waitresses," Renee noted as a 'playboy bunny' type walked by, a gun tucked into her cute boot.

"And I think I see Chillbane and Killer Frost too," Lanna added.

Renee sipped her ginger ale, keeping a eye out. The odds of Dent and the Twins bursting in here were low, but members of the Gotham underworld were allying with Two Face. Ventriloquist had already shot up one bar, while a new pair of Trigger Twins were also supporting him.

"So," Lanna leaned forward deliberately, "are you single, Officer?"

THAT made Renee nearly choke on her drink. "That's a bit blunt," she yelped.

Lanna shrugged slightly, "If my Father and my Sister's falls from grace have taught me anything, it's to seize whatever chances you get." She smiled, "Well?"

Renee considered lying, but decided there wasn't much point. "Single," she admitted, "but not looking right now."

Lanna looked her over thoughtfully. "Got burned?" she asked.

"Took off and joined the army," Renee answered wryly, then sipped her drink.

"Ah," Lanna murmured. Renee also hadn't confirmed it was a woman who took off on her, but they had SOME time. Maybe.

To be continued...

Notes: I REALLY wanted to have KG Beast shaking in his boots over Balalaika. Not sure if that quite worked. The character who took off on Renee is Kate Kane, who in comics would become Batwoman II, more or less.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: Re-uploaded due to notifications failing.

Bat Lagoon

Chapter Seven

Oracle was holding the meeting online, and over the team's various communicators, as they dealt with the ongoing crisis. 'And just think,' she thought wryly as she typed on two keyboards, 'it's only been a few days.'

"Making things more complicated, there's several mercenary teams in the city hunting Dent and the Twins," Oracle said.

"The Lagoon Company are usually a smuggling outfit, but they do piracy and other activities too. Their leader is Dutch, who claims to be a US war vet. The main gun-woman is Revy, whom possesses near superhuman speed and agility. Benny is a hacker whom I'm finding something of a pain. And Rock is their tactician, pretty much."

Robin's somewhat amused voice came over the radio as he swung over the city. "I've been running into a trio of mercs. There's Shenhua, an Asian knife fighter. Shiva trained, I think. Rotten, their gunner, and Sawyer, a gothic lolita with a chainsaw."

"Wait..." Nightwing cut in, "Chainsaw? Seriously?"

"Yup. She's pretty effective with it too," Robin added.

"Damn," Nightwing muttered. "I also had a run-in with Lagoon Company," he said, and sketched in details of the barroom brawl. "They appear to be trying not to kill anyone," he added. He decided it wouldn't be a good idea to mention Revy was pretty sexy. Both because it would confirm his bad rep, AND Oracle being his ex...

"I'll be sending everyone a zip-file on both groups. I would strongly suggest not underestimating them," Oracle added seriously.

"There's two other complications," Batman's voice added seriously. "There's a team from Hotel Moscow in town. I strongly suspect both of the other teams are distractions to keep us from paying attention to them."

"Balalaika's men?" Oracle guessed. "I'll start tracing them..."

A soft grunt came over the line as Batman landed on a rooftop. "The CIA is also sniffing around, though how they are connected to this I don't know," Batman conceded.

"I'll look into it," Oracle promised.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

In a run down Gotham bar, Eda sneezed loudly.

"Someone talking about you?" Revy teased her friend.

"Fuck if I know," Eda sighed.

The bosomy blond was leaning against the bar in a t-shirt and skimpy shorts, Revy and Rock beside her. The Nun with the Rip Off Church (and under cover CIA agent) had hit town a few hours ago, and quickly hooked up with the Lagoon Company crew.

"So what the hell are you doing here?" Revy had to ask.

"You might remember those little shits felt me up?" Eda drawled.

Revy snickered softly. Yeah, that had been a fairly surreal moment, when the two of them were jumped by Gretel. She had, apparently, been wanting to hire the Lagoon Company to get her anbd Hansel out of town. And, of course, had taken the opportunity to feel up Eda while cheking her for hidden weapons.

"That was about when Two Face intercepted Hansel from hitting Balalaika." Revy noted.

"Then got the kids out of town, yeah," Eda nodded. "Not only am I here for revenge, but Hotel Moscow has one hell of a reward out for the kids. Dead or alive."

Rock sipped his scotch. That, at least, made more sense for her sudden arrival... but he still wondered if she had some other motive too.

"So," Eda smirked, "are you and Rock sharing a room, here? Would be a good opportunity."

"EDA!" Revy yelped.

Rock blushed furiously. YES they flirted a bit and there was sexual tension but...

Eda smirked, clearly amused. "Revy, get off the stick, or one of the many ladies sniffing around Rock will get the jump on you," she told her. "Hell, BALALAIKA thinks he's cute. And you do not want to be competing with her."

"Oh, shut up," Revy muttered.

Before more teasing could be had Benny hurried in. "There's a rumor about the twins... Dutch is warming up the car now."

Relieved, Rock got up as he said, "Let's check it out."

"Mind if I tag along?" Eda asked.

Revy made a face but she couldn't really say no. Besides, if shit hit the fan she might be useful. "All right," she agreed as they rushed out.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The apartment was one of many hide-outs that Two-Face had in the city. Purchased through dummy companies and furnished cheaply, he could pick up the keys and move in at a moment's notice. This time before doing so he bought an old video game machine and a TV, and was rather bemused at how much the twins liked it.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Harvey Dent felt a degree of satisfaction as he looked over the list. Before he had been scarred by acid, he had been a crusading District Attorney. In addition to revenge over his scarring, he had been going after the criminals that, as a DA, he had never been able to get.

'The Moxon family...' Harvey looked at the name thoughtfully. Yeah, he knew that Lanna Moxon was active in crime in the city, from his contacts. But she was white collar crime, mostly, and didn't mingle much with the mobs.

Dent took his coin out and rolled it on his fingers. "Clean face, we skip Moxon. Scarred, she's a target," he said, then flipped it.

The coin rose, spun, then came down on his sleve like he had aimed it. He looked at the coin, and saw that it had come up clean...

"Well, Lanna, looks like your lucky day," Harvey said, then looked up to where the Twins were still playing.

"Yes Mr Dent?" Gretel asked as she shot a zombie in a shower of gore.

"What do you want for dinner?" Harvey asked curiously. "We have frozen dinners, or I can do hot dogs and macaroni."

"Hot dogs!" Hansel beamed.

"Yes, please," Gretel agreed.

"All right," Harvey shrugged, "let's do that."

As Harvey headed to the kitchen Hansel quietly whispered to his sister, "Bet you he burns something again."

"No takers," Gretel smiled. "I think he likes cooking for us... it's cute."

Hansel shrugged as he focused on the game again. There were zombies to be killed, and he and Gretel were armed and ready... it was almost like real life. Except less messy on their clothes.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The Trigger Twins were, frankly, rather terrified as Shen-hua and Sawyer held them at bay with knives and chainsaw, while Rotten leveled his gun at them.

"Wrong twins," Shen-hua growled in annoyance as the disarmed western duo cringed from her angry knife flicks.

"Can we just kill them?" Sawyer asked in disgust.

"Eeep," both men 'eeped.'

Rotten sighed, "No, the law here is rather more strict than back home."

The Trigger Twins sighed in relief.

"We can pummel them, however," Rotten noted and grinned as Shen-hua advanced on them.

"Should we call the cops?" Sawyer asked as Shen-hua had fun behind them.

"I suppose," Rotten agreed, "or we can wait and see if Robin shows up."

Sawyer actually blushed a bit. She TOTALLY shouldn't have mentioned he was cute.

"Tied them up with own lasso," Shen-hua reported cheerfully a few minutes later, "they very upset over that."

"All right, there are rumors Dent is going to hit somewhere on 22nd street... let's check that out," Rotten suggested with a sigh.

"Do you think Dent is really obsessed with twos," Sawyer used her vocoder to ask, "or does he just enjoy dicking with Batman and making him chase two-related stuff?"

"Dicking," Shen-hua said sourly. "But we have to check, yes?"

Just then a battered american muscle car pulled up with a screech of tires. "Dutch?" Rotten blinked as he got out.

"We missed 'em?" the big man asked sourly.

"Different twins," Shen-hua sighed.

Revy slammed her hand onto the roof of the car. "How many damn twins does this town HAVE anyway?" she growled.

"Apparently Dent hired several. The Trigger Twins, Double Dare, Echo and Query..." Benny trailed off. "That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was Benny," Eda sighed.

"Everybody back in the car," Dutch ordered, "let's go check out the next lead..."

"Right," Revy groaned and they swiftly climbed back in and headed off.

To be continued...

Notes: Lighter episode. More blood-shed next chapter. I'm writing Two Face closer to the animated version... murderous, but revenge focused rather than the comics version who tends to be more randomly evil.


	8. Chapter 8

Bat-Lagoon

Chapter Eight

The private plane came in to Gotham airport from Asia early in the morning. Cleared at very high levels, the plane came in without the usual notice, and rolled in to a terminal usually reserved for government work.

The hatch on the side of the plane opened and the stairs folded down smoothly. A security guard emerged first, looking around the terminal warily. Only once he was sure it was safe did he wave the passengers forward.

"I really don't think we need to be concerned with snipers," Miss Balalaika noted wryly as the tall, attractive silver-blond haired woman walked to the main terminal.

"The local branch of the Russian mob would gladly see you dead," Boris noted dryly.

"And then we'd destroy them," Balalaika replied.

"They might think it's worth it, for killing you," Boris said seriously.

"That is a point," Balalaika said as she continued to walk calmly, "but we do not show fear in front of our enemies."

They checked in at customs and we ushered through very quickly. Money and political contacts greased the wheels. They advanced through the main terminal, then saw the woman carrying a sign reading 'Big Sis.'

"Can't believe they made me come out to pick you up," Revy grumbled.

"Revy, good to see you," Balalaika looked amused.

"We got two cars," Revy said as she lead the small group of Hotel Moscow officers out to the street, "Rock is driving the other. Armored, just in case."

"Have you been talking to Boris about security?" Balalaika asked, amused.

"We've been here a week, this place is fucking nuts. Just ask Dutch about the crazy plant lady that attacked us yesterday...," Revy complained as they got into the cars.

"Plant lady?" Balalaika asked curiously as she got in the back, Boris sitting in the passenger seat up front.

"Poison Isley or something like that." Revy noted as they set out, "Heard of our rep and wanted us to sneak her outta the country."

"Tell Dutch he can consider the job after our business with the Twins is settled," Balalaika offered, amused.

"So where to first?" Revy asked. "I was figuring the hotel you booked, first, then...?"

"Hotel," Balalaika agreed, "I want to shower and change. Then we'll go stop in on an old friend of mine..."

"They know you're coming?" Revy asked as she pulled into traffic rudely, making other drivers blare their horns.

"No, I'm hoping to surprise him," Balalaika smirked.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

If you asked Bruce Wayne who was the person least likely to turn up at his offices, Balalaika would be high on that list. But he hid his surprise well, especially when he found out she was also a major Wayne Enterprises shareholder.

"You have 10% stock in Wayne Enterprises. How...?" Bruce asked when they ended up in his private office.

Balalaika looked amused as she sat in a comfy chair in front of his desk. "You DO guard your stock like a hawk, Bruce," she conceded cheerfully. "However I kept an eye on the stock holders list, and made generous offers where I could," she shrugged.

"A holding company, of course," he noted. Bruce added, "I'd have noticed your name."

"I'm touched you remember," Balalaika teased.

Bruce just ignored that. He also tried to ignore how attractive Balalaika was, in a suit cut to reveal clevage and a short skirt. It was a dangerous beauty, as symbolized by the scars on her face, but even with that she shimmered with a violent, sexual energy.

"You're here about the Twins, of course," Bruce noted.

"We can't break the ice first? Talk about old times?" Balalaika drawled.

"The Twins," Bruce repeated.

Balalaika sighed. "All business, I see," she noted. She took a deep breath, "I come bearing information, first. I was able to determine the Twins origins."

Bruce looked curious. Oracle had traced the children to the orphanages of Romania, but had hit a dead end.

Balakaika made a face, "The children were stars of a series of violent snuff films. They were armed and made to kill other children to survive."

Bruce tried not to let his appalled reaction show, but he was sure a bit showed through.

Balalaika nodded slightly. "Every time I think I've discovered the lowest humans can go, someone digs deeper," she said flatly.

"They escaped, I assume," Bruce said very flatly.

"I don't know all the details, but the operators shut the film production down and escaped. The surviving children were put out on the street, but at that point they already were severely damaged," Balalaika said grimly.

"And someone connected to the operation set them up as killers for them," Bruce nodded.

"Exactly," Balalaika agreed. "I obviously couldn't bring the evidence with me through Us Customs, but your hacker ally Oracle can confirm it once she knows to look into snuff films."

Bruce didn't let himself react to her knowing who Oracle was. "And I'm sure Greenback Jane and Peeking Duck were a great help to you in finding that out," Bruce replied evenly.

Balalaika just smiled wryly, shaking her head.

"You obviously didn't just come here to talk," Bruce said after a moment.

"It's been nearly two weeks, and no progress on catching the Twins. And they've killed dozens of mobsters," Balalaika said flatly.

"And?" Bruce said flatly.

"I can have private contractors on the ground in a few days," Balalaika continued calmly, "we can turn this town upside down and shake it."

"No, you really can't," Bruce shook his head. "You might be able to pull that off in Roanapur, but here? No."

"Oh really?" Balalaika challenged.

Bruce met her gaze calmly. "The surviving gangs, not to mention the super criminals, would see it as a act of war. They KNOW who Hotel Moscow is and your reputation. The streets would run with blood," he said.

"And that should bother me, why?" Balalaika challenged.

Bruce realized he'd underestimated her. She was entirely willing to let her mercenaries and Gotham's gangs destroy each other... then let her Hotel Moscow forces move in and take over. He sort of admired the willingness to use this situation, even as he was faintly appalled.

Bruce sat back, "Then go ahead. I look forward to seeing you confront Kobra, Intergang, not to mention all the alphabet soup agencies too."

"You think the CIA would become involved?" Balalaika asked, though she DID look faintly disturbed. Just a little.

"Do you think they would let someone with your connections and history take over a US city's underworld?" Bruce asked in return. "There would be a sanction order. I'm certain of it."

"Hmph," Balalaika subsided a bit.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Eda sneezed suddenly.

"You okay?" Benny asked curiously as they and Dutch drove around town, looking for possible signs of trouble.

"It's fine," Eda (Sister of the Rip Off Church and secret CIA op who, if a sanction order came in on Balalaika, would have to set it up) said, "someone's talking about me, maybe..."

Back in the penthouse Bruce added, "And your Hotel Moscow team hasn't done so well either."

Balalaika made a face, "I get regular reports, but all incidents have been declared self-defence."

Bruce just gave her a look.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Harvey found it interesting how things were shaking down in Gotham. People were chasing the bounty on the Twins, while others joined 'his side.' Which was ironic, as he considered himself on his own, more or less.

"Yaaaah!" Hansel yelled as he cut into one of the tuxedo'd men, even as Harvey shot another with his hand gun.

"Why are they dressed as penguins?" Gretel wondered as she gunned down another suited fellow in a splash of blood.

"Heh," Harvey chuckled. "They're guys from the Penguin's mob," he told them as he shot another and wrecked a very stylish shirt, "he makes them dress like this."

Hansel kicked a stuck torso off one of his axes, splattering blood. "I do love the nicknames in this town," he noted cheerfully, "Penguin, Mad Hatter, Riddler..."

"It IS a kick," Harvey agreed as he shot a man trying to sneak up on Hansel.

Hansel smiled up at him brightly, "Thanks, sir!"

"You're welcome," Harvey smiled back. Looking around he assessed the short fight was over, then asked, "Any still alive?"

"This one is gut shot," Gretel levered one guy up, "but alive."

"That'll do," Harvey agreed, "we need to know if Penguin himself is behind this, or if his guys are just freelancing."

"And if it was him?" Hansel asked as he slapped the wounded man awake.

"Then we go visit the Iceberg Lounge," Harvey shrugged.

To be continued...

Notes: Gotham, it should be noted, is basically New York sized. So I don't think it's unreasonable that Harvey and the kids could still be on the run after two weeks. Plus he has resources and had set up hideouts before hand.

While Balalaika is primarily out to avenge her people killed by the Twins, she's ALSO quite prepared to seize the chance to trigger a massive gang war, bathe Gotham in blood and take over. Because that's just how Balalaika ROLLS. Heh.


	9. Chapter 9

Bat Lagoon!

Chapter Nine

"They did WHAT?" Oswald Cobblepot, the criminal known as Penguin, yelped loudly.

Oswald had been keeping a wary eye on the ongoing war between Two Face and the Gotham mobs. He had been, at times, an ally of Harvey, but right now he had decided to stay out of the conflict. It certainly wouldn't profit him much to get into it.

But now... things had gotten more complicated.

Taylor, one of his minions, gulped loudly. The tall, younger man said, "Several of the boys thought it might be an idea to go after the bounty on the Twins." He saw the Penguin's dismayed look and added, "The reward is HUGE..."

"Well, they're probably all dead now," Penguin groaned. "You should have asked me. I would have told them it was a bad idea."

"What do we do now, sir?" Taylor asked nervously.

"WE are not doing anything," Penguin told him. "I intend to contact Dent, and let him know I was not responsible for the attack."

"What if he doesn't believe you?" Taylor asked nervously.

"Then I'm getting out of town." Penguin said dryly.

Taylor gulped again, realizing that if Penguin did just escape, he was likely the one to end up taking the fall...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Balalaika relaxed in the hotel bubble bath, soaking in the hot water and bubbles. She'd never do this back home, but here she was willing to indulge herself a bit. It's not that she couldn't have done this back at Roanapur, but she had a reputation as a hard, dangerous woman. Bubble baths didn't really fit in with that.

Boris stood guard by the door, very much trying not to notice his boss' naked body. "We've had another sighting," he noted, "a group of Penguin's men staked out one of Two Face's old hideouts. It ended badly for them."

"Ha," Balalaika puffed on her cigar as she relaxed. "And he and the Twins escaped before anyone could get there?"

"Yes, ma'am," Boris agreed.

"We need to change out strategy," Balalaika mused as she smoked, "we're chasing after him, not anticipating his actions."

"Hmm," Boris tried not to look as she stretched, revealing sudsy breasts.

"We need a profiler. Someone who can look at the patterns and determine where Two Face will strike, rather than just chasing him," Balalaika mused. She relaxed in the hot water, then her eyes popped open. "Ah HA!"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Edward Nigma, known to many as the Riddler, had stayed out of the hunt for Two Face and the Twins. He wasn't interested in helping Dent, and while the reward was attractive he had no wish to mess with the murderous trio.

However it looked like the choice had been taken out of his hands...

"Mr Nigma. Or do you prefer Riddler?" the attractive if scarred blonde asked politely, sitting in a fluffy robe in the hotel suite.

"I prefer not to be rousted out of my home by large Russian men and hauled off to the Gotham Hilton," Eddie noted wryly.

"We can't always get what we want," she shrugged casually.

Eddie snorted quietly. "All right," he tidied his slightly messy suit as he asked, "what can I do for Hotel Moscow?" He added quickly, "While I have not done business with you directly, I am aware of you by reputation, Miss Balalaika."

Balalaika smiled back, "It's always nice to be recognized." She sat back casually, "We want to hire you, Mr Nigma."

Eddie studied her a moment. "You obviously don't want me chasing him. I'm not the type. Psychological profile?" he mused.

"Exactly. Simply chasing him is getting us nowhere," Balalaika agreed. "Well?" she asked.

Eddie nodded thoughtfully. "I'll need his police file, whatever you have on the Twins and some time on the internet. I also can't promise how helpful whatever I come up with will be," he cautioned.

"Not even asking what you'll be paid?" Balalaika looked amused.

"I expect you'll pay what the work is worth," Eddie shrugged. "Besides, I want to stay on your organization's good side."

It took a few hours to compile the data, as well as draw various conclusions from it. Eddie worked tirelessly, his mania for puzzles and riddles driving him on. Finally on the next day, he reported back to Balalaika.

"You think he might bond with the children?" Balalaika noted as she read.

"Dent and his wife wanted kids. Despite Dent's issues with his father," Eddie replied. "And I expect the abuse Dent suffered would make him even more sympathetic to the kids."

Balalaika nodded, acknowledging the point. She read on, swiftly. "He's NOT out for revenge?" she asked.

"Revenge is part of it, of course," Eddie acknowledged. "He targeted the families of the mobsters who scarred him. But if revenge was all he was after, he'd have stopped there."

"So what is his goal?" Balalaika asked.

"He wants to do what he couldn't finish as Gotham's District Attorney: he wants to completely erradicate the Gotham mobs," Eddie told her.

"Ambitious," Balalaika noted.

"And he's well on his way to doing to too," Eddie observed. He sighed, "The problem is, I can't necessarily determine what his next target will be."

Balalaika frowned at him.

"Dent may also be focusing on the number four, rather than his usual dualities," Eddie added that information quickly.

"Oh?" Balalaika looked curious.

"Himself plus the twins. While he would normally be picking an address with two or twenty two in it, he may now grab a four variation," Eddie explained.

"That actually just increases our problems in searching for addresses," Balalaika sighed.

"Sorry," Eddie shrugged eloquently.

Balalaika tapped the fairly thick report. "Well, thank you for your efforts. My aide, Boris, will pay you. I hope this is the beginning of a fruitful association," she told him.

"Ma'am," Eddie nodded respectfully.

Once Boris returned Balalaika said, "Pass the report onto our teams in the city. It should help them somewhat."

"Understood," Boris nodded.

Thoughtfully Balalaika added, "Send a copy to Rock, too. He and Revy may manage something..."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Cobblepot," Harvey answered the phone, his voice flat with annoyance.

"Ah, Harvey. Been a long time," Penguin tried to be casual.

"Get to the point," Harvey cut him off.

"I was not responsible for my people attacking you. They did so on their own," Penguin quickly said.

"One of your boys survived long enough to tell me that," Harvey agreed, "or I'd be hitting the Iceberg Lounge right now."

"Ah," Penguin replied. He didn't want to think about how Harvey and the Twins had likely made him talk. "Anyway, I will be staying neutral in your conflict with the mob. Though I do wish you luck," he added.

"Heh," Harvey sounded amused. "Just a heads up, Penguin: If someone I'm after hides out at your lounge, I will still go after them."

"Understood," Penguin sighed.

Without another word, Harvey hung up.

"Rude," Penguin sighed as he put the phone away.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

James Gordon looked tired, though as the head of a police force dealing with a murderous crime wave it was understandable. He swigged some coffee as he looked across the desk at his visitor, "Any issues, Renee?"

Renee Montoya smiled wryly at her boss. "If Lanna Moxon is conducting criminal activities while I'm guarding her, she's VERY clever."

"You think she's clean?" Jim wondered aloud.

"No," Renee admitted, "but I'm thinking mostly white collar crime. Financial stuff."

"That's her reputation," Jim agreed. "Any other issues?"

Renee hesitated, fiddling with her coffee cup. "She hit on me," she admitted.

THAT nearly made Jim spit his coffee. "Is that a issue?" he asked warily. "I can assign another officer, I think..."

Renee smiled wryly. She was reasonably sure that Jim knew about her preferences, but they didn't talk about it. He was a bit old fashioned that way. "It's fine. I'm just not sure how to handle it," she admitted.

"There's no open investigations on her," Jim admitted, "so you wouldn't have a conflict with that. I would suggest being careful, obviously."

"Got it," Renee nodded then added, "Lanna was also asking if there's been any progress chasing Two Face...?"

'About the same. He knows the city damn well and is staying ahead of us for now," Jim reluctantly conceded.

To be continued...

Notes: Catch up chapter with various folks. I've always liked Riddler, so used him. Also covered Penguin and Renee again. Next chapter back on Two Face...


	10. Chapter 10

Bat Lagoon!

Chapter Ten

The bounty hunting 'team' from Hotel Moscow were mercenaries, rather than Balalaika's personal soldiers. She would have rather sent her own men, of course, but getting them into the US legally would be a pain. Worse, they would likely be arrested by Gotham Police. So instead Balalaika used the mercs instead. They were useful, could be deployed quite easily, and if things went horribly wrong they were not connected to her directly.

In other words, they were expendable.

The abandoned building on 22 Drake street was owned by various shell companies, but Peking Duck traced the ownership back to Dent. And scouts had spotted signs of activity on the second floor. As expected from Two Face.

The six man team entered the deserted lobby, then advanced warily to the stairs. They hurried up to the second floor, then down the dingy hall to the room marked 0202.

"Smash the door down," the team leader ordered, and two of the men hammered the door with a portable battering ram.

The door fell in with a crash... just as the explosive charges planted in the walls all detonated. Loaded with shrapnel, they exploded through the mercenary team.

"ARRRGH!"

"GAK!"

"URKH!"

Blood splattered the walls and floor, even as the badly wounded men scattered around groaned and cried out in pain.

Room 04 up the hall opened, and Two Face emerged with the twins, all of them carrying weapons. "Kill em," Harvey Dent ordered, "but leave one to question."

"Yes sir!" Hansel said as he charged with his axes.

"There's really no point in my getting into this," Gretel pouted as she just stood by Two Face. Her heavy anti-personel rifle was just too much for such a small area. Besides, the mercs were mostly near dead anyway.

"Don't worry," Harvey patted her head gently as he said, "I promise you'll have something to do next time."

Gretel looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you!"

A few moments of bloodshed and ultra-violence later, and Hansel dragged a merc over. "I saved the least wounded one," he told Harvey.

"Thanks, kid," Harvey patted him on the head too.

"What the hell...?" the wounded merc managed to get his wits back, a bit.

Harvey calmly clouted him across the head. "No swearing in front of the kids," he ordered the captive calmly.

The merc just kind of stared at Harvey blankly, as one of the 'kids' had just murdered his team with a axe. And was standing by him covered with blood splatter.

"Noticed you boys trying to follow us," Harvey noted casually, "it's distracting from what I'm trying to do. Who sent you, and why?"

"I won't talk," the man said stubbornly.

"Oh, you WILL talk," Harvey noted. "You see, it's either tell me what I want to know or," he gestured to the two grinning children, "I let THEM play with you. For hours maybe."

He looked at Hansel and Gretel and gulped. "You'll let me go?" he asked.

"No," Harvey said honestly, "but I promise to make it fast and clean. Unlike your dying of your current wounds."

The battered and bleeding man weighed his options and sighed. "Hotel Moscow, the Roanapur branch of the Russian Mob," he revealed. "The twins there crossed them. They want the kids captured, or if that's impossible they want 'em dead."

"Huh," Harvey grunted. Well, it fit with what he knew... and really shouldn't have been that unexpected too. "Gretel," he ordered, "waste him."

"Yes sir," Gretel whipped her rifle around and calmly blew the merc's head off, spraying his brains across the wall.

"All right, let's get out of here," Harvey added, "even in this part of town, that much noise will get someone to call the cops."

"Right!" both kids hurried to follow him up the hall.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"God damn it," Gordon cursed softly as they took in the mayhem.

"Commish, you don't need ta be here," Bullock told him flatly.

James Gordon ignored that. CSI teams were going over the scene, picking up trace evidence and photographing everything. Though it wasn't hard to see what happened: the soldiers had attempted to break in, set off a booby trap then were finished off.

"Do you think Two Face set up here as a trap?" Gordon wondered aloud.

"He knows that we know he's fixated on twos," Harvey conceded. "It's pretty likely the other guys chasing him know that too."

If Two Face was actively hunting the people chasing the bounty on him... things could get a lot more bloody. Especially considering how well armed the bounty hunters were. "Do we know who these guys were, or who they work for?" Gordon wondered.

"No," Harvey admitted.

A voice from the shadows said, "International Task Force. Based out of London."

"ACK," Harvey acked as both men whipped around. Batman stood in the shadowed corner, though how he got their neither man knew.

"They're working for the Russian Mob," Batman continued to tell them calmly, "specifically for Hotel Moscow."

"Who?" Harvey asked bluntly.

"We got a bulletin on them," Gordon noted, "lead by a former military officer, Balalaika. They're supposed to be incredibly dangerous if you cross them."

"Yes," Batman agreed, "they could probably overthrow a small country."

"Then we'd better hope we can keep them outta Gotham," Harvey drawled.

The CSI team was packing up, and drew the two cop's attention. They turned back to where Batman had been standing... then saw he was gone.

"I hate when he does that," Gordon growled.

"At least when he DOES vanish like that you know it's actually him," Harvey noted.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"They did WHAT?" Rotten demanded.

He, Shen-hua and Sawyer were in a dive bar with Revy and the rest of the Lagoon Company. The pirates and extraction specialists were catching up the bounty hunters on the latest news.

Eda didn't look pleased as she relayed, "Seems Two Face and the Twins set a trap for Balalaika's men. With C-4."

"How bad?" Rock had to ask.

"The nearest to the blast pretty much painted the walls with blood. The survivors were taken out by Two Face and the kids," Eda said.

"Wonder if I could get the clean up business?" Sawyer wondered.

"SAWYER," Rotten sighed.

"It's a legitimate business," Sawyer protested.

"If they're actually hunting bounty hunters, it's going to get a lot more dangerous," Dutch pointed out flatly.

"I'll keep you guys in front as meat shields," Revy told Lotten and company.

"Your consideration for us warms my heart," Rotten noted.

"You too crazy to hide behind us anyway," Shen-hua pointed out.

"She's got a point," Eda agreed.

Changing the subject Dutch looked over at Benny, "Are you having any more luck in hacking the City systems?"

"No," Benny shook his head ruefully, "and it's getting insane how much resources we're throwing at it. Me, Jane, Peking Duck AND everyone in Jane's team are trying to break in. No dice."

"That's impossible," Rock blinked.

"Not impossible, but very unlikely," Benny agreed. "Whoever is guarding Gotham city's system clearly has super computer access AND is an expert hacker."

"No way a city is affording that," Dutch noted.

"Yeah. And that Oracle mask popped up on the Hotel Moscow system too. Whomever they are, it looks like they're counter attacing," Benny sighed.

"Balalaika is going to be PISSED," Dutch muttered.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Miss Moxon, it's REALLY not safe to go out," Renee cautioned the other woman.

"I thought I asked you to call me Lanna?" she teased.

"Lanna," Renee conceded. "Dent has apparently massacred a pro mercenary team. This is NOT the time to go out and party."

"Today we party for tomorrow we may die," Lanna deliberately mis-quoted.

"I would really rather not be collateral damage if Dent goes after you," Renee pointed out.

Lanna sighed, though she had to admit Renee had a point. "If I do stay in, will you promise to keep me entertained?" she teased.

Renee blushed.

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

Bat Lagoon

Eleven

Balalaika raised her eyebrows as she studied the laptop that was synched to Hotel Moscow's computers. In addition to the usual programs, a stylized Oracle mask was on her desktop. And according to her staff, was on ALL their systems.

"They hacked US in return?" Balalaika said flatly, still in her fluffy robe from the generous hotel supplies.

Boris nodded seriously, trying hard not to look at her feet in the fluffy slippers. "This turned up on all systems connected to us earlier today," he said seriously, adding, "I assume that it's connected to the Gotham ops."

"One assumes," Balalaika agreed. She studied the symbol a moment, then asked him,"Has anyone tried to click it?"

"No, ma'am. Though Jane and Peking Dusk have both attempted to assess how we were breached and to what extent," Boris noted.

Balalaika grunted softly at that. As the Americans would say, that was like locking the barn door after all the cows had escaped. Or something. She took her mouse and clicked on the Oracle icon, which then opened a message box.

"Miss Balalaika, I presume?" typed out.

'Hacked the laptop camera too, I suppose,' Balalaika realized. She typed, "So, you are the infamous Oracle. What can we do for you?"

"Just saying hello, after you and your allies have been constantly attacking my systems. Don't you know that's rude?" Oracle replied.

"My humble apologies," Balalaika typed.

"Thanks," it replied, and you could practically feel the sarcasm in Oracle's answer. "Cease and desist any further cyber attacks on Gotham. If they continue, I will clean out Hotel Moscow's Swiss bank accounts."

'How did they find out...?' Balalaika wondered, thinking she was bluffing.

"Here are the account numbers, so you know I'm not bluffing."

Balalaika's eyes widened as a series of VERY familiar numbers scrolled by. "We will cease and desist." she quickly typed.

As soon as she did, the message box and the oracle mask disappeared from the desktop.

"Get me a secure line to Roanapur," Balalaika growled, "we need to call off Greenback Jane and Peking Duck. Immediately."

"Yes, ma'am," Boris nodded.

'Best contact Benny too,' Balalaika mused grimly. They were also going to have to rip out and rebuild their whole computer system, but that would wait until later...

"Also, BURN that laptop," Balalaika added as she staked off to get dressed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Wayne Enterprises was always busy. In addition to business interests in Gotham, it was a international company with operations in every part of the globe.

Bruce nodded to Lucius Fox as he asked, "Is there a way we can buy back the stock? I'm not happy it's in criminal hands."

Lucius looked at him apologetically but said, "Not unless we can compel her to sell, Bruce. You know that."

Bruce nodded with a sigh. He just HATED the idea of Hotel Moscow having a connection to his company. Even if it was hidden from the public via shell companies. The only good thing was that he, personally, firmly controlled a majority of Wayne stock.

"Can we at least add a condition that Wayne Enterprises has to approve re-sales?" Bruce asked him grumpily.

"I'll look into it," Lucius promised.

"Thank you," Bruce sighed. Deliberately changing the subject, Bruce asked, "Is the current situation impacting the Foundation much?"

The Martha Wayne Foundation did a great deal of charitable work in Gotham. They funded soup kitchens, medical assistance and others, while helping place disadvantaged citizens in new jobs or train them for new fields. The current mayhem in the city had to be a problem...

"We've hired armed guards for some activities," Lucius admitted. "Which I don't like, as it will probably scare off some people in need."

"I really do not like armed guards," Bruce admitted.

"Neither do I, but I can't justify sending volunteers out unprotected, with the mercenaries, bounty hunters and Dent and the Twins running around," Lucius pointed out.

Bruce winced slightly at that. He and his allies had been chasing Dent for two WEEKS now. With little or no result, and it bothered him a great deal.

"How's Leslie doing?" Bruce changed the subject. Leslie Thompkins had been one of the first people on sight when his parents died... she and Alfred had pretty much raised him. He admired her greatly, when her stubbornness wasn't driving him nuts.

"She's running her clinic as usual," Lucius actually looked amused. "As you know, nothing much slows her down."

"Ha. That's true," Bruce agreed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Owwww," Rock whimpered as the nice older woman stitched up his cut.

"There there. It'll be done in a moment," Leslie reassured the younger man.

Rock and Revy were in the Martha Wayne free clinic, getting Rock stitched up after he had been winged in an encounter with a band of Italian hitters. Apparently THEY were sore over the Twins decimating their organization in Roanapur.

"Thanks, Doc. What do we owe you?" Revy asked conversationally.

"It's a free clinic," Leslie noted, mildly amused. "Though if you can afford to donate, it'd be appreciated."

Rock hissed again, as Leslie applied a sterilizing wash to get rip of the blood. "There we go," she said, then got him a small pack of pain killers.

"Thank you very much," Rock said, bowing a bit as he gave her a roll of twenties.

Leslie looked startled, "You don't need to..."

"Please. I insist," Rock smiled warmly.

Reluctantly Leslie took it as she said, "Thank you."

"You haven't had too much trouble with all this?" Revy asked, actually looking a bit concerned for the older lady.

"No more than usual," Leslie noted, actually looking amused.

"Hey," Dutch nodded respectfully to the older lady. He looked at the other two and said, "We've got to go."

"Right," Rock and Revy headed out together.

Revy really didn't know what to think about Gotham. The guns and stuff, that she could handle. She was USED to that. It was the crazy costumed dudes she couldn't figure out...

"Hey, is his boo-boo better?" Eda teased as they headed back to the car.

"Shut the fuck up, Eda," Revy noted dryly.

"So, we have a new issue," Benny noted as they all got in.

"NOW what?" Dutch wondered.

"You know how we've been hacking Gotham's computers? Well, someone counterattacked," Benny sighed.

"WHAT." Rock blinked. "Against Hotel Moscow?"

"Yup. I don't know what they actually DID, but Balalaika called off Jane and Peking Duck," Benny told them.

"Damn," Dutch blinked. There was very, very few things he could think of that would make someone like Balalaika back off.

"Yeah," Benny agreed, "whoever it is must be a super-hacker..."

In her clock tower base, Barbara Gordon sneezed loudly.

"Are you still trying...?" Rock wondered.

"Oh HELL no," Benny said indignantly. "If they can scare Balalaika, I don't want to imagine what they could do to ME!"

Barbara Gordon sneezed again, weirdly enough.

"Are you getting a cold?" Robin had to ask, having stopped in during a patrol.

Barbara sighed, "Damn if I know..."

"There's a myth that if someone's talking about you, you sneeze," Robin suggested.

Barbara just gave him a LOOK.

"Never mind...," Robin sighed. Curiously he wondered, "If you could break into Hotel Moscow's systems that easily... why not just take them off the board completely?"

"I could," Barbara admitted, "but someone else would step into the power vacuum. And say what you will, Balalaika has principles and lines she won't cross."

"While whomever might replace them won't," Robin nodded.

"Exactly," Barbara agreed.

To be continued...

Notes: After some mental debate I decided that Oracle should CURB STOMP the hacking attempts. Yes, Greenback Jane is good, but she's never been shown to be Oracle good. Now I need to figure out the Triads and how that'll work...


	12. Chapter 12

Bat Lagoon

Chapter Twelve

"Okay kids, dinner," Harvey Dent said as he briskly carried over plates with meat loaf, potatoes and corn.

"Thank you!" Hansel and Gretel chorused. They were happy for the meal, not to mention it wasn't burnt.

(Gretel suspected the burnt/non-burnt thing related to Harvey's Multiple Personalities. 'Two-Face' the criminal mastermind couldn't cook at all. 'Harvey' on the other hand, could cook as he had for his wife. So basically if the scarred coin came up, dinner went bad, while the un-marked side meant dinner was good. Two Face was a complicated man.)

Two Face himself carefully divided his meal into two portions, eating from each 'side' while alternating. "We've wiped out the mobs, finally," he noted as he ate, "with one big exception: the Chinese triads."

"Hmm," Hansel prompted him as he ate.

"Will that be a problem?" Gretel wondered.

"I'm confident we can take the soldiers of the various gangs," Two Face said calmly, "but they've recruited allies from the villains of Gotham. That'll... complicate things."

"That will just make it more fun," Hansel smiled.

"Well, let's hope," Two Face said. He noticed both kids were done eating, "Who wants desert? We've got ice cream!"

"Please!" Gretel smiled.

It was a homey, domestic scene, and was a sharp contrast to what they had been doing just a few hours ago.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The Calabrese family had a long history in Gotham. Rex had basically run Gotham before being ousted by the Falcone mob. Even fallen they had still been a power, and had opposed DA Harvey Dent often. But now, finally, it was ending.

Men screamed as Two Face advanced down the hall, twin guns blazing. Hansel charged ahead, nearly decapitating one man with an axe. Beside Two Face was Gretel, hefting her huge rifle as she blasted away.

"Come out, Calabrese!" Two Face yelled.

"Why should I?" a voice yelled.

Ignoring that Two Face looked at Gretel, "Got the target?"

"Yes sir!" Gretel swung the rifle towards the voice and fired.

Normally, a rifle would have issues shooting through a wall. It would depend on how thick the wall was, materials, etc etc. But Gretel was using a modified anti-tank gun, basically firing banana sized bullets. A wall, doors or anything else between them wasn't a problem.

"AWK!" they heard a muffled cry, and a lot of screaming.

"Come on," Two Face charged ahead, bursting into the side room. The guards were still disoriented by the rifle fire, and he and Hansel mowed them down quickly.

Tori Calabrese lay in a pool of blood, but was still mostly conscious as Two Face strode up to him. "What did I ever do to you, asshole?" he groaned.

Two Face knelt down and casually smacked him. Briskly he said, "Watch the language in front of the kids."

Gretel finished off the remaining guards, along with Hansel. "I hear movement from the hall," she cautioned.

"My people will make you pay, Dent," Toni wheezed.

"Good luck with that," then Two Face shot him.

"What now, sir?" Hansel asked.

"We fight our way out before the cops arrive," Two Face shrugged.

"Whee, fun," Gretel smiled.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Well, fuck," Harvey Bullock muttered, looking over the bloody wreckage not long after.

Anna Ramirez, a rookie cop, was looking pretty green but was keeping her gorge down. "How many dead?" she asked weakly.

Harvey gave her a look, but decided not to ask her to count herself. "Twenty," he said, "seventeen soldiers, Toni himself and his two aunts."

Anna just shook her head in disbelief.

CSI techs were collecting the evidence, though Harvey kind of wondered what the point was. They knew the bullets would match Two Face and that kid's guns, along with the axe wounds. They certainly didn't need to collect trace evidence.

"What I don't get is why they don't call us when Two Face hits," Anna complained.

"They probably didn't want to risk getting arrested for all the illegal or unregistered weapons," Harvey noted mildly.

Anna blinked, "They're rather fight THEM off then risk a gun arrest?"

"Criminals are stupid," Harvey shrugged.

"And the three escaped," Anna sighed.

"We'll go over the internal security films, maybe we'll get a clue where they went," Harvey answered. Honestly, he doubted it tho. Unless a witness saw Two Face escape, he was too good as just disappearing int the city, even with his scars...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Wait, so... isn't Two Face done, then?" Revy wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Benny sighed. "As far as I can tell, he's wiped out the surviving mob bosses. Maybe he'll skip town with the twins, now?"

"I'm not trying to help them escape," Dutch noted, referring to the Lagoon Company's side job of extracting clients from bad situations.

Everyone was in one of the many Gotham bars, after a long day of chasing rumours and such. The attack on the Calabrese family had happened that morning, and news about it had spread through the underworld like a virus.

"Not quite," Rotten noted, drinking from his glass of rum, "there's still the local Russian Mob, headed up by the KG Beast."

"Oh please not that guy again," Rock whimpered.

"Yeah, he was fucking huge," Revy agreed. Didn't mean she thought they couldn't take him, of course. But he WAS big.

"Wouldn't that piss off Balalaika too?" Sawyer asked, wearing yet another new Gothic Lolita dress. She LOVED Gotham's shops!

"They're a seperate branch of the Russians," Dutch noted, "I don't think Balalaika would care if Two Face wiped 'em out."

"He also hasn't gone after the Triads, right?" Rock asked.

"He stupid if try," Shen Hua pointed out, "Triads in Gotham all closely allied. Will quickly work together against him."

"Doesn't mean he won't try," Rock observed thoughtfully.

"What?" Revy looked at him.

"Just... wondering how he could do it, I suppose," Rock waved it off.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"So... we didn't see you at the Calabrese crime scene," Gordon noted.

Batman's cape fluttered in the breeze atop Police Headquarters. "I was chasing down a lead on Two Face," he answered, passing a bundle of pages to Gordon.

"There's are...?" Gordon asked.

"We," (actually Oracle but that was a secret) Batman continued, "found the front company Harvey used to purchase some of his safe houses."

"Are there any we know he hasn't used yet?" Gordon asked thoughtfully.

"Several. They're listed on the second page... I'm hoping we can stake some of them out," Batman added.

"I'll try to free up the officers," Gordon promised.

"Watch yourselves... Harvey's near his endgame in this. He's got very little to lose, now, and much to gain," Batman said as he swung off into the night.

Other than the usual muggers, the city was eerily quiet. A lot of the street gangs and such that survived were laying low, hoping to avoid Two Face's wrath. Ironic, as he didn't really care about the bottom feeders...

Batman made a mental note to swing by Arkham Asylum too. Joker had been weirdly quiet as all of this went on, and Batman didn't trust that to last. Not at all.

To be continued...


	13. Chapter 13

Bat Lagoon!

Chapter Thirteen

In Arkham Asylum, the sound of laughter filled the halls.

Orderlies, doctors and staff allvisibly twitched at the sound. The Joker laughing was never a good sign. Either a new plan had hit him, or he was watching something horrible happen to someone and was having a good time. Either way, it was bad.

Joker was in restraints, the usual padded jacket and ankle cuffs, sitting in his cell as he laughed at the whole situation.

"What's so funny?" the newcomer in the cell next door asked. He was new and hadn't learned that getting Joker's attention could be a bad idea.

"I can nearly FEEL the laser sights painting me," Joker laughed.

"Huh?"

"Someone," Joker said to him conversationally, "and it's PROBABLY Hotel Moscow, has put a rotating sniper team outside of Arkham, targeting me. I assume to paint the walls with my brains if I try to escape."

"And that amuses you?" the voice asked.

"YES!" Joker laughed. He explained, "They're so worried about my getting involved in the craziness outside, they're willing to kill me!"

"..." the other man listened.

"It's the ultimate compliment!" Joker finished.

'Yup, he's nuts,' the other man sighed.

The 'noob' ended up dead a week later, crushed in a laundry room accident involving a washing machine. The prime suspect was the Joker, but no one could figure out how he got the banana peel there to trigger the whole accident. The fact that it WAS a banana peel, on the other hand, convinced them it was Joker.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"So why not just kill him?" Arkady asked curiously.

Boris was checking on the snipers set up not far from Arkham. Getting the house with a sight-line on Joker's cell had taken some doing, but they had a lot of money to throw around. The team rotated every six hours, and a fresh sniper took position while the other was aiming, to make sure they always had Joker in their sights.

"Well, there's the Batman. He disapproves of that sort of thing," Boris noted dryly.

Someone spat while others made disgusted faces. The Batman, in their opinion, was as nuts as the Joker for leaving such murderous enemies alive.

"That's stupid. He wouldn't chase us back to Roanapur," Arkady noted.

"Are you prepared to gamble your freedom on that?" Boris asked mildly. Mind you, they knew their leader and Hotel Moscow would defend them. But the idea of a all out war between Batman and his allies and Hotel Moscow was worrying.

Another gunner mused, "There are some weird stories about that clown. I don't know if I'd want to risk it."

Boris grunted softly. He had heard those stories too... that Joker was some sort of Lord of Chaos. Or an undying muderous spirit. Or worse. There were a LOT of different stories, most not connected to reality. But...

Their leader, Balalaika, had 'donated' funds to the Asylum, and in return had gotten a tour of the madhouse. They had seen various inmates, and the final 'treat' had been looking in on Joker. The gaunt, pale man had seemed harmless, until he looked up and met their eyes.

Boris had seen a great deal, serving in the military and later with Hotel Moscow. He had survived wars and seen horrors. But something in that mad clowns eyes chilled him. Not only did he seem not to care... but there was a gleeful enjoyment there too. He clearly projected that if he was free of his restraints he would kill them both, gleefully.

Right then and there, Boris had wanted to put a bullet in Joker's head.

Shaking off the memory Boris said gruffly, "Balalaika doesn't want him dead. That is enough."

Having checked on the fire team, Boris left the building and headed to the waiting jeep. He sat, then pulled out a older, military phone that was 'secure' by most standards. "Captain, I checked on the snipers. Situation nominal, but they are getting restless," he reported.

"They don't need to watch much longer," Balalaika replied.

Boris raised his eyebrows. "Are we leaving, then?" he asked.

"No, we are still getting those damned twins," Balalaika said flatly. "This relates to one of my back up plans... you heard of Bane, correct?"

"Yes, he fought Batman and...," Boris trailed off as he realized what she planned.

"Exactly. If it appears the Twins are going to escape and Batman continues to hinder us... teams will blow open Arkham and Blackgate Prison. He will have more important things to do than stop us," Balakaika said coolly.

Once again, Boris was impressed by his leader's cold bloodedness.

"Get back soon. We're getting another intelligence briefing," Balalaika ordered.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"AGAIN?" Riddler yelped as he was dumped in the room.

"Hello again, Mr Nigma," Balalaika said mildly.

Edward dusted himself off, glad he hadn't been snatched out of his bed or something. He wore his usual green and purple suit, and a bowler hat. YES it was silly, but he had a look and he wasn't interested in changing.

"What can I do for you?" Edward asked, neatening his tie.

"It appears that Two Face's next target is the Gotham Triads. I need a full briefing," Balalaika told him. "Usual fees, of course."

"Ah," Edward brightened. They had paid him quite well, last time. "Don't you normally have someone to ask about this kind of thing?" he asked.

"My normal source is unavailable," Balalaika waved that off.

(Normally Balalaika would have asked her sometimes enemy Mr Chang. However, while normally he wouldn't care about the Gotham side of the operation, his superiors in China did. And he had been ordered to be silent on the situation.)

"All right, I'll cover the high points, then we can get into the fine print," Edward said, then started to explain.

"Wait... an English man is head of the Triads?" Balalaika asked.

"King Snake, aka Edmund Dorrance, yes," Edward agreed, "he assassinated the former leaders and bought his way in with profits from the heroin trade."

"Troops?" Balalaika asked.

"He controls most of the Chinese gangs, but their loyalty is questionable," Edward said. He added, "The Ghost Dragons are the most loyal to him, and are headed up by Lynx."

"And the supervillains?" Balalaika asked.

"King Snake hasn't gone to the trouble of making many friends," Edward said, "but he has a lot of money. Once he realizes Dent is after him, he'll hire all the help he can get."

"Reasonable," Balalaika nodded. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Lady Shiva has had a long running feud with him," Edward added, "she crippled him, once. If he's going down, she'll probably turn up."

"Another complication...," Balalaika sighed. She nodded to Boris, "Pay him."

Edward followed Boris out willingly, then took a bundle of large bills from him. "Glad to be of service," he nodded. "I assure you, I'll keep our discussions confidential."

"Hmph," Boris nodded.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Balalaika was pacing as Boris returned. The beautiful woman was puffing on one of her cigars, a frown on her face.

"Captain?" Boris asked.

Balalaika pulled her cigar out, looking at the glowing red tip. "There's one loose end that's bothering me," she admitted, "the local Russian mob and the KG Beast."

Boris blinked, "They weren't active when Dent was the District Attorney."

"Members of their organization were," Balalaika said. "And he's not been that discriminate in hitting targets," she added.

"... should we warn them?" Boris wondered after a moment.

THAT made Balalaika snort in amusement. "They're all from the other faction... I don't care if they all die," she said. She puffed her cigar, "I just want to know why."

"Worried about the KG Beast?" Boris suggested.

Again, Balalaika looked amused. "He successfully crossed swords with Batman ONCE," she said, "never really managed it again. Nor the NKV Demon."

"It is strange," Boris conceded.

Balalaika puffed her cigar again, then blew out smoke. "It'll become clear eventually," she mused, "just hopefully without biting us in the ass."

To be continued...

Notes: Covering where Joker's been. I don't think Balalaika considers him a HUGE threat, exactly, but he's disruptive enough that she doesn't want him out causing problems.

I have often wondered why characters don't just kill Joker, so I wanted to address that a little.


End file.
